Architect faces trial over alleged defilement of 5-year old niece

A 34-year-old architect, Abiodun Akinpelu, who allegedly defiled his five-year-old niece, on Wednesday appeared before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.

Mr. Akinpelu, who resides at No. 29, Mayowa St., Orelope in Egbeda, a Lagos suburb, is facing a two-count charge of defilement and indecent assault.


The offence, according to the Prosecutor, Clifford Ogu, a police inspector, was committed on September 4 at the apartment of the accused.

The accused indecently assaulted her by fingering her, Mr. Ogu told the court.

“He lured the girl into his room, carried her on his laps and started fingering her.

“The grandmother, while bathing the girl, discovered that she cries as she washes her private part.

“The girl narrated everything that the uncle did to her to her grandmother,” he told the court.

The prosecutor said the accused was arrested and handed over to the police.

The offences contravened Sections 1375 and 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 137 prescribes life imprisonment for offenders.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Taiwo Akanni, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N250, 000 with two sureties in like sum and adjourned the case until Sept. 20 for mention.